Oldham See it differently A Place Marketing Strategy for

Executive summary Foreword

This strategy sets out our ambitions for It’s about having an open door policy. Being prepared Oldham – a place with an exciting future that to work quickly with partners to make decisions and get results. has so much to build on. By doing so we’re already cultivating partnerships with the Our has its own proud niche in history as the collective energy to deliver mutual benefits that can push cotton spinning capital of the world. Oldham onto the next level. It is an industrial revolution boom town that went on to And by working to deliver a greener, more sustainable manufacture the Lancaster Bomber and today is home economy with the capacity to support innovation and to national and international brands – plus major new entrepreneurs, we’re also going to play a more prominent opportunities. role in our City Region. These are exciting times for Oldham. But it is also now vital that we work to create a whole new We have a new Metrolink line, flagship projects to transform generation of ambassadors. our town centre and remarkably diverse assets that may This strategy sets out our clear ambition to sell our surprise you. message better: showcase our excellent location, transport We have superb connectivity to city centre and and heritage, and show the world we are open for business. the M62 corridor, for example, yet more than a quarter of Ultimately, we believe it is people who will sell our offer – our borough sits within the Peak District National . whether they’re opening a business here, buying a new We also have the youngest population in the region, low-carbon home or even just visiting to enjoy our stunning with access to outstanding higher and further education new cinema development. establishments – plus a strong base of more than 5,000 They can spread the word that Oldham is a great place to businesses across all sectors. invest, visit and live. Yet even with assets like this, we know the work to restructure our economy won’t succeed by accident. It needs people, commitment, and aspiration. Jobs and growth are our clear priorities and to achieve that our place marketing strategy needs to challenge and change perceptions. To get people to see Oldham differently, the Council is stepping up to play a leadership role like never before. That’s not just about us investing £100m on key regeneration projects, or the great work we’ve done to create land opportunities, support services and financial Jim McMahon, Carolyn Wilkins, incentives to attract inward investment. Oldham Council Leader Oldham Council Chief Executive It’s about working co-operatively alongside people who are equally committed to our ambitions.

2 3 1. The Place Vision

Oldham is a place of ambition. A place that Our ambition celebrates and builds on its heritage – the Our ambition is based on our rich heritage and the people, places and things ‘made in Oldham’ wonderful natural environment Oldham already has to which help make Oldham distinctive. offer, along with our determination to work in partnership to turn our ambitions for the future into reality. Underpinning Our Place Vision is of Oldham as: our ambition is the need to grow our economy through • A productive place, with healthy, aspirational and private and public investment which will create jobs for sustainable communities - a place that plays an active Oldham residents. role in . We know that Oldham is already a great place to live, visit and do business in. Our ambition is to make it an even • An ambitious place, delivering economic growth better place and to get as many people as possible to see, – particularly in the town centre and on strategic understand and believe in its greatness. employment sites – capitalising on the excellent connectivity and development opportunities we offer, This second element of our ambition – challenging and securing investment and creating the confidence and changing perceptions of Oldham – is what drives our conditions for businesses to thrive. place marketing strategy.

• A desirable place, attracting people to visit, shop, work and live here, with thriving high streets in all our districts – ones which strike the right balance between existing major chains and independent retailers – offering a fantastic mix of events, leisure and cultural facilities.

• An enterprising place, home to a young and growing population with continually improving educational achievements and a track record of innovation. Delivering a work-ready, ambitious, self-starting pool of employees and entrepreneurs across the borough, who are ready and prepared for the changing nature of employment opportunities.

• An inspiring place, with a co-operative culture that encourages residents and businesses to speak positively about all the area has to offer, now and in the future, and to take pride in its heritage - celebrating the people and products ‘made in Oldham’.

4 5 2. Oldham

The Place 2.3 Alongside a strong private sector, the borough is also home to a number of local and national 2.1 Oldham is a of Greater public organisations including Guinness Northern Manchester. An attractive place to live and work Counties, First Choice Homes Oldham, Voluntary between Manchester City Centre and the Peak Action Oldham, Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust, The District countryside, it benefits from: Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Greater Manchester • A population of 224,900 which is diverse, young, Waste Disposal Authority, University Campus and growing Oldham, Oldham College, and the Oldham Sixth Form College. • A working age population of over 157,000, of which over 34% are between 25 and 44 years old, 2.4 Oldham offers a fantastic quality of life, centred on providing a long-term sustainable pool of labour its strong cultural heritage, leisure and independent retail offers. • A strong business base with over 6,000 businesses spanning key sectors including: 2.5 Major annual events, such as Festival Oldham and advanced manufacturing, construction, health, the Whit Friday Brass Band contests, and a range of digital and creative, and, financial and professional specialist shops and markets across the borough, services add to its distinctiveness. They also play a part in making Oldham ‘family friendly’ – a quality which is • Excellent connectivity to the Greater Manchester further enhanced by our award winning parks; great City Region and the rest of the country via the public transport network; excellent childcare services, M60/M62 motorway, train and Metrolink networks and the exhibitions, shows and creative activities on • Over 101,500 registered businesses within a 30 offer through Gallery Oldham, Saddleworth Museum minute drive time catchment and Art Gallery, Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre, Tommyfield Market, Oldham Theatre • Brand new, state of the art schools and award- Workshop, and Oldham’s five theatres. winning parks

• A wide choice of quality housing across both urban and rural communities. 2.2 The borough is home to a number of national and international brands and companies including the Trinity Mirror Group, Diodes Incorporated, Ferranti Technologies, Seton Healthcare Ltd, Park Cake Bakeries, Innovative Technologies, Littlewoods Home Shopping Group, Ambassador Textiles, and Nov Mono Pumps.

6 7 2. Oldham

The Plan • Alexandra Retail Park – A £1.7million retail 2.9 We want people to recognise that this investment park redevelopment, anchored by a 40,000 sqft will underpin the delivery of our future plans and will 2.6 Oldham is changing and has seen significant financial Matalan store. have a hugely positive impact on how Oldham will investment in recent years including £430 million in be perceived. The development of a place marketing housing, a £137 million investment in education, and • Bloom Street – A retail-led joint venture next strategy for Oldham has been identified as one of the £80 million in healthcare facilities. to Oldham College and the new Oldham four key changes we have to make to ensure we can Leisure Centre 2.7 This trend is continuing, driven by the Metrolink achieve our overarching ambition. This key change extension through Oldham town centre; Oldham • Meridian Centre – Joint venture redevelopment is to ‘See Oldham Differently’ – as a productive College’s campus transformation; a new of an edge of centre, Grade II listed office/ place where business and enterprise thrive creating Headquarters for First Choice Homes Oldham; industrial complex confident communities. and Oldham Council’s £100 million capital • Foxdenton – Development of a 110 acre 2.10 The Oldham Partnership - whose role is to develop programme. All of which demonstrate our premium business park and high quality homes, and lead improved outcomes for Oldham’s residents, commitment to ‘doing our bit’ to transform the close to the M60 and M62 with a particular focus on creating jobs and public borough and realise our ambition. service reform – have developed an overarching • Hollinwood Junction – 16+ acres of retail and strategy for their work called the Oldham Plan. 2.8 Key investment projects, many of which are business opportunities, across three sites, just off supported by the council’s £100 million investment, the M60 2.11 Five priority outcomes within the Oldham Plan include: form a strategic framework for the Partnership’s • Town Centre – £22.5 million town centre transformative work over the next ten years. These • Metrolink – Phase two of the Metrolink extension redevelopment, including 50,000 sq ft foodstore to Oldham creating three new stops in Oldham outcomes are: • Residential Developments – Clearance and town centre • A place to invest with confidence disposal of former secondary school sites to • Old Town Hall – Creation of a multiplex cinema deliver high quality homes • A dynamic, skilled and relevant workforce for and family restaurant complex within the listed Old the future Town Hall • Lancaster Club – Residential-led mixed use scheme with 144 homes, soccer centre and • An enterprising and co-operative culture • Hotel Future – 140 bed luxury hotel, conference roadside commercial units centre, and national hospitality training centre • Well-connected communities and businesses • New Saddleworth School – Development of • New Coliseum and Heritage Centre – a replacement building for the Saddleworth • Healthy, confident and empowered population. Development of a new theatre and heritage centre secondary school. in Oldham town centre What we want to achieve • Playing Fields investment – Improvement • Public Realm – Improvements to key routes in of playing fields at three key sites across the 2.12 So what will that look like? What are the Oldham town centre, key gateway features and borough. characteristics of our ‘desired future Oldham’ that will building lighting shape our approach to place marketing? • Eastern Gateway – A master plan to support mixed development in Oldham town centre’s eastern gateway • New Leisure Centres – Two new leisure centres in Oldham and Royton, helping to deliver Oldham’s Olympic legacy

8 9 Desired Future Oldham - Our approach to place marketing 3. Place Marketing A key route to our ‘desired future Oldham’ Oldham will be a great place 3.1 Place marketing, along with place making and place shaping, is one of three elements which form a holistic approach to place management, designed to deliver To invest… To visit… To live… growth, investment and jobs (and support our ‘Get Oldham Working’ initative). That is a first choice location Featured in a large number of Offering low-carbon living for well known brands and big short break itineraries promoted (new low-carbon homes and low- businesses delivering on the locally, regionally and nationally. carbon forms of transport) and world stage, some of which are working (commercial properties That provides a built on home grown talent. locally with the opportunity to lower

distinctive visitor experience energy costs and compete Where the further and through family-friendly festivals globally with minimum travel). higher education sector are and events, alongside boutique, Place marketing developing their students’ bespoke and independent With a significant supply of, and a skills in partnership with local retailers. demand for, high quality housing Marketing activity and national private sector across a wide range of house (Selling the place’s special qualities) Which people businesses. come back to and prices and locations. stay longer in, as a result of their Activity outside the borough With a nationally renowned positive experiences, created in Where people are happy Activity in the borough science and technology base part by the excellent customer and feel able to pursue their to its economy (advanced service and product knowledge of ambitions. manufacturing, health, digital and the people they meet. Where green technology). families have the best of That offers a rural retreat and both worlds to choose from, with Which provides employment for a great value base for people quality leisure, retail and cultural its residents, by creating over wanting to visit / work in the wider facilities in the town centres, and Growth, 2,000 employment opportunities city region. nationally important landscapes investment in the borough and improving and parks within easy reach. access for Oldham’s residents to That and jobs employment opportunities within attracts high earners Place Place from across GM and beyond, the . Get Oldham Working who want to enjoy the quality making shaping With a sustained and growing of life and connectivity the professional sector, spanning borough offers. Service delivery physical improvement both traditional and creative (Keeping places special) (Making special places) industries.

10 11 3. Place Marketing A key route to our ‘desired future Oldham’ Place management 3.2 Our co-ordinated approach to place management 3.5 Place marketing, for the purposes of this strategy, is (based on the diagram on page 11) is focused on defined as: following major factors: • Marketing Oldham as somewhere that people • Place Making - Basic services are being provided want to invest, visit, live, and work, by promoting and infrastructure maintained to the satisfaction of its unique qualities in ways people can relate to. Place Place Place Oldham’s residents, businesses and visitors. • Developing coordinated approaches with key making marketing shaping • Place Shaping - New attractions are needed (e.g. partners to marketing Oldham, improving the Old Town Hall Cinema complex) to improve perceptions both inside and outside of the service delivery selling the place physical improvement the quality of life to sustain current business and borough, leading to growth of the local economy public support, and to attract new investment, and enhanced reputation across the region. businesses or people. 3.6 The place marketing strategy for Oldham focuses on • Place Marketing: three key themes: For example: Invest Visit Live For example: • Repositioning Oldham »» Oldham needs to change how people and Invest: Attracting inward Investment – activity to • Capital programme businesses see Oldham through a vigorous secure major development, attracting new occupiers, • Get Oldham Working Plans and selling »» Old Town Hall image and communication programme. retaining and growing the existing business base outcomes of making • Street Scene »» New Coliseum »» Oldham must generate support from its Visit: Boosting the visitor economy – maximising and shaping residents, leaders, and current institutions for and growing the economic benefit of the visitor »» Bins »» Public Realm making the place hospitable and enthusiastic For example economy, focussing mainly on the town centre and »» Street cleaning • Facilitating development about attracting new companies, investment countryside offer • Advertising outcomes and visitors to its community. »» Furniture repairs »» Foxdenton Live: Attracting new residents and retaining • Websites 3.3 Place making and place shaping is already well existing residents that are able to contribute to • Street Lighting • Stakeholder engagement »» Hollinwood underway in Oldham, for example through our economic growth. £100 million capital regeneration programme, Co- »» Upgrade • Ambassadors • Housing developments operative Council agenda and Repositioning Oldham 3.7 In addition, these themes all contribute to, and » • Marketing material are underpinned by, a wider place reputation » Repairs • Building Schools for the programme. Place marketing activity, such as the Future and Academies Visit Oldham website and Invest in Oldham launch strand of activity. • Highways • Events events, is also taking place but requires further • Research and marketing. • Local Transport Plan development. »» Pot hole repairs projects »» Yellow lines • Metrolink – 3a and 3b 3.4 This place marketing strategy provides the framework outcomes and long term vision needed to drive forward a co- • Parking Services. • Oldham College Campus. ordinated place marketing programme. Invest Visit Live Place reputation

12 13 4. Place Marketing Strategy 5. Delivery How we’re going to achieve our ambitions

4.1 The overarching aim of this place marketing 4.3 Our approach to place marketing will vary over time - 5.1 A range of delivery mechanisms have been brought strategy is to: in response to the changes in people’s perceptions - together in a strategic delivery plan (which supports as our place marketing activity and the major physical this strategy) to co-ordinate activity across these Improve perceptions of Oldham to make the changes taking place start to make an impact. categories. These mechanisms include: borough a more attractive choice for investors, visitors and residents/potential residents when We have therefore developed a strategic delivery plan that: • Advertising choosing where to invest their time and money. • Promotes the borough as it is now (focusing on • Stakeholder engagement 4.2 Linked to our three key themes – Invest, Live, and our best / most locally distinctive aspects and • Production of new marketing materials Visit – the strategic objectives for Oldham’s place marketing them to relevant target audiences), marketing strategy are to: • Event delivery • Sells the journey (raising awareness of our • Attract investment into the borough – creating new aspirations for development and growth, • Enquiry/customer relationship management development, businesses and jobs encouraging relevant target to get ‘on board’ with • Embedding key messages in existing documents. us at the start of the journey) • Make Oldham a place where people want to live – 5.2 The delivery plan is a working document and retaining existing, and attracting new, economically • Influences on-going plans for place making and will be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect active residents place shaping activity to ensure it contributes progress and further input and ownership from key towards the achievement of the shared place partners – both public and private sector, within the • Bring visitors into Oldham – supporting local jobs vision for the borough. borough and across Marketing Manchester, MIDAS, and businesses linked to our visitor economy. Manchester Solutions and New Economy. 4.4 This final element of the strategy is crucial to its successful implementation, as the marketing 5.3 To ensure input and ownership from the public and activity has to relate to real evidence of quality and private sector, the creation of a new place marketing distinctiveness on the ground or it will fail. In short, board is planned to oversee the delivery and ongoing the reality (both now and planned) has to match up development of this strategy. This board will form to the advertising. part of the Oldham Partnership structure and draw membership from a range of public and private sector organisations.

5.4 The Place Marketing Board will be supported by a virtual operational group known as ‘Sales Team Oldham’. An informal and virtual grouping, Sales Team Oldham will bring together all organisations who use the positive qualities of Oldham (the place) as part of their sales pitch / promotional material.

5.5 The application of the Sales Team Oldham concept will be through both existing stakeholder groups (such as the Economy and Enterprise Board, Town Centre Business Partnership, Oldham Housing Improvement Partnership) and the creation of new stakeholder groups where required (for example a new Tourism Forum).

14 15 6. Key Messages

6.1 The aim and objectives above have been used as the basis for a series of key messages which will underpin all of our place marketing activity. The overarching (place reputation) messages for the place marketing strategy are: • See Oldham differently, because we’re doing things differently • Oldham – get more out of Manchester • Time to take another look - things are already changing and it’s getting even better; join us now and get in ahead of the game. • We’re building a co-operative borough – one where the council works alongside partners, businesses, and residents to realise our ambitions for Oldham. 6.2 There are specific sets of key messages for each of the three audiences below:

Invest Visit Live • We’re leading by example - • Manchester’s great value • A great place to live, study investing in schools, health, destination and work housing, infrastructure, culture and leisure developments • Between Manchester and • Quality (of life), choice and Leeds, it’s so easy to make value in Greater Manchester • Oldham is well connected – to Oldham part of your short Manchester via Metrolink and break • A great base for family life in the M60 motorway, Leeds the heart of Northern • Quality, culture and heritage - and Liverpool via the M62 • State of the art living – and just a 19-mile drive from family-friendly attractions and events schools, health care, leisure facilities and homes • Manchester’s great outdoors • Forward looking with tradition • A great choice of urban and at our heart – a centre of – the northern gateway to the Peak District National Park rural living within easy reach of excellence for science, Leeds and Manchester. innovation and advanced • Great markets, independent technology shops and local produce just • Young and confident place waiting to be discovered. – highest proportion of people under 25 in Greater Manchester, a skilled workforce for the future.

16 17 7.3 The audiences identified on page 18 don’t just to both visitors and investors. Their perceptions 7. Audiences and Assets receive the message; they may also play a role in its of Oldham can influence (either positively or delivery too. Acting, in effect, as another channel negatively) those of shoppers to Oldham town through which the selected messages can be centre, visitors to Saddleworth and can also affect 7.1 Place Marketing is aimed at: 7.2 Target audiences for the place marketing strategy communicated. investor perceptions. have been segmented into distinct categories based • Those inside and outside of the borough on the objectives above, with specific communication • Local residents and media = place advocates 7.6 Our place marketing communications must draw • Existing and potential audiences. channels identified for each: clear links between our Big Budget Conversation, • Other destination-brand users e.g. estate agents Co-operative Council / Co-operative Borough work Invest Visit Live 7.4 The success of our efforts to promote Oldham as a and Love Where You Live campaign, and the bold place that people want to visit, live, work and invest move (at a time of austerity) to invest £100m to Audience • Investors; • Existing and potential visitors (from • Current residents in is dependent on getting ‘buy-in’ from our key attract further private sector funding, with the aim of • Financiers; within and outside the borough), in (borough wide); stakeholders. creating jobs and boosting the local economy. By particular: communicating this effectively to residents, we can • Developers; • Prospective residents »» Outdoor activity participants, from across Greater 7.5 One of our main stakeholder groups is existing look to create ambassadors for Oldham – from taxi • Contractors; »» Heritage, arts and culture Manchester and wider residents. Residents present a communications drivers to businessmen, to the top 100 people of • Retailers; enthusiasts; M62 corridor; challenge in terms of adding ‘noise’ to our messages influence in Oldham. • Property agents; »» Shoppers visiting town centres/ • Housing sector • Businesses looking markets; stakeholders such as to relocate into »» Countryside day trippers; housing associations, the borough (in »» Grey Pound; house builders; particular those • Metrolink users; • Applicants for jobs within considering ‘north- • Northern Rail / Trans Pennine the borough (where shoring’); Rail users; there is the potential for • Existing businesses • Manchester city break visitors; relocation). looking to invest in growth; • North of England / Derbyshire short breaks visitors; • MIDAS; • Visitor economy stakeholders such • Central Government as: (Biz); »» Tourism businesses; • Trade press. »» Events organisers; »» Attraction managers; »» Marketing Manchester.

Communication • Invest in Oldham • Visit Oldham website; • Borough Life; Channels website; • Go Oldham website; • Oldham Council website; • Invest in Oldham • Regional and travel media. • Facebook; Twitter; events; • Regional and local media; • Business media; • District Executives, • Regional media; Community forums. • National media.

18 19 8. Evaluation

8.1 A programme of research and customer insight 8.3 Common to all three themes is the need to: is proposed, to steer future development of the place marketing delivery plan and to monitor • Define a reach area - the area which constitutes its effectiveness. This is intended to give us a the core market for each theme mechanism for measuring and evaluation impact on • Agree a question set and frequency (likely to be an the reputation of Oldham as a place. initial baseline, followed by potentially tri-annual or 8.2 In terms of research there is likely to be some overlap on-demand follow-ups) for each between the Live and Visit themes as both are • Agree a common Oldham perception question or targeted at individuals and likely have overlapping questions which can be asked of all three groups. reach areas, whereas the Invest theme is aimed at businesses.

Place marketing: building an evidence base - recommendations

Visit Live Invest

Defining our reach area In place R4: Update reach when In place 2011 Census migration available

Survey requirements R1: Design common event R7: Gain further survey form/questions, and intelligence from record responses in consultation ‘Tractivity’ * contacts portal R8: Engage with any R2: Log event numbers future GM survey

R3: Tri-annual Visit / Live Oldham survey in reach area

Further profiling R5: User and non-user profiles (Acorn and census)

* Tractivity is a business enquiry database used by Oldham Council and MIDAS. 20 21 8.4 A series of eight recommendations are made below • Tri-annual surveys across Greater Manchester and 8.5 In addition to the place marketing evidence base which together will transform our intelligence for West Yorkshire, into perceptions of Oldham as a development outlined opposite, it is also proposed to Place Marketing. These can be summarised as: place to visit and live use a series of measures to assess the impact of our place management activity (place marketing, • A single approach to measuring and surveying • Gaining maximum value from existing business physical regeneration and service change) on visitors to tourist events enquiries, and participating in future GM business Oldham as a place. surveys. 8.6 These wider measures are also linked to the three Theme Reach area Recommendations core themes: Invest Visit Greater 1) Implement a standard visitor event survey form and recording process, the Manchester and results to be stored on the partnership consultation portal to allow analysis of • Increase in the business rates collected 1 West Yorkshire individual events plus aggregated analysis for marketing purposes. • Monetary (GBP) investment in developments including: 2) Build an event numbers log - a centralised log of the numbers attending each event, which would allow weighting of survey results to understand reach »» The Old Town Hall even better, as well as understanding the true attraction of different events. »» Hotel Future »» Queen Elizabeth Hall 3) Tri-annual Visit/Live Oldham survey across the agreed reach area to understand wider perceptions. »» Alexandra Retail Park.

Live Greater 4) Review reach area when Census 2011 data is available. Visit Manchester, • Increase footfall through Oldham town centre 5) Basic demographic/Acorn analysis of Visit/Live survey respondents, to West and South [Assumption: The town centre evaluation 2 identify demography and social class of our reach area, and perhaps to Yorkshire mechanism is reinstated] differentiate between those who are positive and negative about Oldham. • Increase in revenue from town centre car parks Invest Greater 6) Do not undertake a reach area survey, as the cost of such a survey is likely to Manchester, outweigh the benefits (as resulting data is likely be of limited quality). • Increase in day visitors (as measured by plus rural fringe STEAM data). beyond the City 7) Gain maximum value from “Tractivity” contacts - through further surveying Live Region 3 of business enquiries with additional questions asked at the point of enquiry to give year-on-year comparable data. This, taken together with changes in • Increase in resident satisfaction as measured by enquiry numbers, would start to give a picture of business need, perceptions the bi-annual ‘You and Your Community survey’ and awareness of regeneration/investment actvity. to establish a baseline of residents perceptions about Oldham 8) Sign up to future GM business surveys as the costs involved would be lower • Increase the average annual household income for and results would be comparable with other GM authorities. It might also the borough be possible to piggy-back questions about perceptions of Oldham and/or awareness of investment/regeneration into that survey. • Increase the % of wealthy achievers (as defined by Acorn data). 1 Based on current knowledge of major attraction visitor distribution 2 Based on 2001 Census data 3 Based on enquiries from new or relocating businesses recorded in Tractivity

22 23 www.investinoldham.com